Shortly after being sworn in as the 47th president of the United States, Donald Trump set out to fulfill many of his campaign promises, signing a flurry of executive orders and pardoning roughly 1,500 people convicted for their role in the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
While many of these moves have earned him plaudits from both members of the media and his base, polling shows they’re divisive, if not outright unpopular, with the American electorate.
Mass deportations
Starting with Trump’s most audacious immigration-related proposals, he’s sought to send troops to the Southern border, reinstate the controversial “remain in Mexico” policy for asylum-seekers, and end birthright citizenship for those born in the U.S. to undocumented immigrants—a concept promised by the Constitution’s 14th Amendment.
While Americans’ attitudes toward increased immigration have soured and there’s an uptick in support for securing the U.S.-Mexico border, the public hasn’t quite taken to mass deportations, which Trump has promised. A December Civiqs poll for Daily Kos found that just over half of registered voters (53%) support this, while an almost equal percentage (46%) were opposed.
Deporting immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally but who have not been convicted of a crime nets even less support. According to recent polling from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, just 37% of Americans support deporting undocumented immigrants who have not committed a crime, compared with 44% who are against doing so.
Ending birthright citizenship
On Monday, Trump signed an executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship—despite the fact that few Americans want him to do so. The same AP-NORC poll found that 28% of Americans support this, while a majority (51%) were opposed.
It’s possible that recent polling might undersell how many people are opposed to this policy, especially since it’s sure to get tied up in legal challenges. Republicans have pushed to end birthright citizenship since at least 2011, but polling from around that time suggests that there was never a majority support for it.
For instance, a 2010 poll from Quinnipiac University found that 45% of registered voters said they wanted to “continue to grant citizenship to all children born in the U.S.,” while 48% said that existing laws should change “so children of illegal immigrants are not automatically granted citizenship.”
Pardoning Jan. 6 rioters
According to former special counsel Jack Smith’s report, Trump could not accept his loss to former President Joe Biden in 2020 so he tried to “direct an angry mob to the United States Capitol … to further delay it.” Smith added that the crowd was predominantly supporters of Trump and that they “violently attacked” law enforcement officers attempting to secure the building.
Insurrectionists loyal to Donald Trump riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
The ensuing riot was a rough day for law enforcement. Roughly 140 officers were injured, and five later died.
Public sentiment is overwhelmingly against pardoning the convicted rioters.
The same December Civiqs poll found that 51% of voters were opposed to pardoning the rioters, including a plurality (47%) who said they were strongly opposed.
Other surveys have found similar results. According to December polling from CBS News/YouGov, 80% of Americans still disapprove of the actions of those who forced their way into the Capitol on Jan. 6, compared with 19% who approve of it. Meanwhile, AP-NORC found just only 2 in 10 Americans favor pardoning most people who participated in the attack, but a much larger share (6 in 10) oppose it, including half who strongly oppose it.
Imposing tariffs
Trump has also announced plans to impose 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico starting on Feb. 1. But according to data from the Global Strategist Group, released in December, 3 in 5 Americans view tariffs unfavorably and believe that they’ll increase costs (which they likely will).
Meanwhile, data released on Tuesday by Navigator Research showed that 37% of registered voters support Trump’s tariff plan, while a slightly larger share (41%) are against it. Like Trump’s other proposals, support for tariffs is highly partisan: Nearly two-thirds of Republicans (67%) support imposing taxes on foreign goods, while 67% of Democrats oppose it. Independents are more split on the issue: While a plurality (43%) are against Trump’s tariff plan, roughly one-third of them (35%) are unsure.
Withdrawing from Paris climate agreement
Sections of pipe for the Mountain Valley Pipeline are seen lined up Elliston, Virginia, on Sept. 15, 2020.
On Monday, Trump signed an executive order directing the U.S. to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement, but about half of Americans oppose this, according to aforementioned AP-NORC polling.
That polling found that roughly half of Americans (52%) “strongly” or “somewhat” oppose that action, with even Republicans fairly split on it (only 45% support the move). Meanwhile, only 2 in 10 Americans (21%) support withdrawing from the 2015 Paris climate agreement, a move that could isolate the nation from the global campaign to curb climate change.
Mandated return-to-office policies
Another one of Trump’s executive orders mandated that federal employees return to the office five days a week, ending almost all remote-work arrangements. This is likely to be one of the Trump administration’s most unpopular policies since many workers have come to appreciate the flexibility of remote or hybrid work, which was popularized during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In October, the Pew Research Center found that a little under half (46%) of U.S. employees who work from home at least sometimes would be unlikely to stay at their current workplace if their employers required them to come into an office. Only about one-third (36%) said they would stay at their current job if existing remote-work policies changed.
There are a number of reasons why workers might prefer more flexible work policies, though Gallup found in 2021 that some of the top reasons for wanting fully remote work included avoiding a commute (52%) and feeling more productive (35%).
While Democrats most strongly oppose the majority of Trump’s plans, Republicans also display some ambivalence, especially over pardons for Jan. 6 rioters. Despite Republican lawmakers and Big Tech allies hyping up Trump, this data seems to suggest that Trump’s honeymoon period might be over soon.
Then again, if Trump’s ever on the outs with voters and finds himself looking to curry favor with them, maybe he can sign an executive order to lower the prices of eggs.
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